quốc hoạ

Definition

1. Noun:
   • National calamity / national disaster: An archaic term referring to a great misfortune or catastrophe that befalls an entire nation, causing widespread suffering and damage.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Chiến tranh được coi là một quốc hoạ. (War is considered a national calamity.)
  • Nạn đói năm ấy là một quốc hoạ. (The famine that year was a national disaster.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "quốc hoạ" is primarily found in historical or literary contexts and is rarely used in modern Vietnamese. It conveys a sense of a profound, large-scale tragedy affecting the country's fabric.

Variants and Related Words

• Tai hoạ (n): disaster, catastrophe. (A more common modern term for disaster.)
• Quốc nạn (n): national scourge. (A modern term for a persistent, large-scale problem plaguing a nation, such as corruption.)

Synonyms

• National catastrophe
• National tragedy
• Great national disaster

Related Idioms

• While there is no direct idiom using "quốc hoạ", the concept is related to the expression:
• Tai bay vạ gió: misfortunes that come unexpectedly. (This refers to personal or general misfortunes, not specifically national in scale.)